KE panelvan/T-18/86 compatability.

[matt99]

I'm lead to believe that the suspension in a KE panelvan is the same as the suspension in a T-18. However I have also heard that a T18's front suspension is much the same as a sprinters. Basically the question I'm putting forward is, will I be able to put sprinter suspension into my KE panelvan or even S13 suspension for that matter (with slight modification)?

While I'm at it I may as well ask if the KE panelvans cross member is the same as a KE sedans or at least where the mount to the car anyway? The reason being, is that in the future I will probably put a 4A into the panelvan and but I need to know if I can still use an AE71 crossmember in the panelvan to enable me to do this?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Matt.

[slydar]

yeah, the front sheet metal is all the same, all the normal mods will work.

basically the only thing to ever look out for is to make sure your steering knuckle is compatible with whatever strut you use ect.

x member will definately bolt up. the rear is different, but the wheel base is the same, so normal tail shaft setups will work. ive had a look at one, and if you had a donor car I'm sure you could change the van to normal 4 link pretty easy, if you had a welder.

[Golberg]

Pretty much all AE71, KE70, TE72(T-18) etc all have interchangeable suspension bits, these are also largely interchangeable with AE86's also.

Any cross member from an E7 with bolt into any other E7 as well as AE86 baring in mind that all the TE7#'s have a steering box instead of rack and pinion as found in the AE7#'s and KE7#'s.

Any struts will bolt up to all of the LCA's and tie rods except you basically need to retain whatever steering arm is designed for the struts because they often aren't interchangeable. i.e. KE70/AE71 ones do not bolt to AE86 struts and I think TE72 ones are different again (although I've heard conflicting statements here). Notable exception though is that the AE71 panel van has AE86 struts in it, only the AE71 one though, not KE70 P/V or any wagon. There is also another difference, TE72 strut tops have a different stud pattern (smaller) to all the other E7's/AE86 this only applies to the series 1 T-18 though, series 2 has the standard pattern.

In terms of rear suspension, all panel vans have leaf suspension in the rear. The only diff you'll find which will bolt in will be exactly what you already have, in saying that, it shouldn't be too hard to convert any other AE71, KE70, TE72, AE86 one to suit leaf.

S13 suspension is a fair bit of mucking around and puts your suspension geometry way out, probably not worth your time and money but there are plenty of other threads discussing S13 suspension.